Banter, Engagement Rings and Sam
by Micky Fine
Summary: Banter, engagement rings and Sam but not necessarily in that order. JD


TITLE: Banter, Engagement Rings and Sam

AUTHOR: Micky Fine

DISCLAIMER: They unfortunately don't belong to me and even more unfortunate is that I am making no money from this.

SUMMARY: Banter, engagement rings and Sam, but not necessarily in that order. J/D

ARCHIVE: If you want it, please ask.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Should be working on my other story but writer's block had struck and all I was left with was Josh and Donna bantering in my head. They wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote this. Reviews greatly appreciated.

Josh counted to ten and was surprised when his assistant still did not appear. He had just called, or bellowed as Donna would say, for the fifth time and she still hadn't come into his office. Getting up he poked only his head out the door. In case Donna was upset and in a throwing mood his head made a smaller target and he could quickly remove it from harm. However, his caution was unwarranted as Donna's desk was empty. Verifying that she hadn't left the building by the fact that her coat and purse were still present, Josh turned his head to the right to see if she had wandered off to talk to one of the other assistants. Instead all he saw were Margaret and Toby's assistant chatting. He noted that Margaret was standing in what Leo called her gossip-imparting stance. Curious, he was tempted to move closer when he heard a familiar voice.

"As you can see, things haven't changed."

Josh whirled his head to the left and his nose came in contact with another nose that was attached to a blue-eyed, blonde-haired blur. Josh brought the rest of his body out of his office and felt his toes bump into Donna's. Blinking to bring her face into focus, Josh felt himself swimming in the familiar blue pools that stared back into his eyes.

"Josh," she said, sounding slightly breathy to his ears, "I know your mother did teach you some manners and I've attempted to reinforce them but apparently we need to go over lesson 45, Greeting Guests."

Realizing that there was another person present, Josh turned his head briefly and greeted the man standing next to Donna. He then turned back to his assistant, their noses once again brushing against one another. Mentally, he pushed back the thought that he really shouldn't be doing this in the office with Sam right there. Startled, Josh turned his head back and discovered that his eyes hadn't deceived his brain and Sam really was standing next to Donna looking bemused.

"Sam!" Josh exclaimed, doing the manly handshake/hug thing.

After releasing Josh, Sam turned to Donna, "You're right, things really haven't changed."

Josh watched in amazement as a blush flooded Donna's face. Then to his own chagrin he felt his own face heat up. Attempting to change the subject he asked, "What on earth are you doing here?"

Donna answered for Sam, "The President and Leo have asked Sam to be legal council for the thing. They didn't trust you not to kill Joe for being a Republican."

"Well, murder aside, I could have been my own legal council, no offense Sam, I do have a law degree you know, Donnatella."

" Oh yes Joshua, and how many years did you practice?" Donna retorted sweetly and blinked in Doris Day fashion at the end of her jibe.

"Funny girl," Josh said sarcastically, "I could fire you at any time."

Hearing the familiar phrase all three present intoned, "Impervious."

Smiling Donna made a shooing motion, "Now, why don't you boys go off and make government policy."

"Yes Mom," Josh tossed back.

"Oh Sam," Donna called before he disappeared into Josh's office, "CJ knows that her Spanky is in the building and she told me to inform the Idiot Boys not to get into any kind of trouble at all. If you do, she says you'll have to give her a case of Aspirin."

Donna walked back to her desk and grinned as she heard Sam mutter, "I'm not in the building for twenty minutes and already CJ's threatening me."

---------------

Josh looked around in satisfaction at all of his friends crowded around the table in their favorite bar. They had initially planned to go sit on his doorstep but the weather had been a little too brisk and they had chosen their usual haunt instead. CJ and Toby sat on his left and talked about the language for some bit of information that they wanted to bury in the next morning's briefing. On his other side, Donna was giggling at something Sam had just told her. He was smiling at her, a certain sparkle in his eye that Josh thought he recognized as filial fondness. Taking another swig of his beer he glanced around the bar.

Although not overcrowded, there were plenty of patrons, many of whom seemed to be out on the dance floor moving to the rhythm of the newly popular Elvis Presley song, "A Little Less Conversation". Josh was in the process of considering the wisdom of asking Donna to dance when Sam beat him to it. Feeling a brief spurt of jealousy, which he quickly smothered, he watched as they wandered over to the jukebox and then strolled out onto the floor as the first strains of a slower song floated out of the speakers. Josh soon recognized the song to be "A Kiss From A Rose" and watched as his friends swayed slowly on the floor.

"Donna looks sad, a little wistful," CJ observed and then looked pointedly in Josh's direction, "you haven't done anything stupid lately, have you?"

"No," Josh said adamantly. After studying the blonde woman out on the floor for several seconds he added, "But I do agree with you, she does look sad."

"Must be the song then," Toby interjected and quickly brought CJ back into their conversation.

Josh continued to stare absently at the couple on the dance floor as he racked his brain as to why this particular song could make Donna feel they way her face was projecting. Several seconds later it hit him. This particular song had been the one that had been on the radio the day they had danced in his apartment. It had been while Donna was staying with him after the shooting and the doctor had just told him to make an effort to be more mobile. So, Donna had convinced him to dance with her in his living room. The two of them had swayed together, her head resting on his shoulder, her hand resting over his heart, which beat so preciously beneath her fingertips. In that brief span of time Josh had felt normal again, as if he were protecting and watching over the slim young woman in his arms instead of the other way around.

Josh was jolted out of his reverie by Donna tapping him on the shoulder, "I'm going to head home. Sam is going to drive me. See you in the office tomorrow."

Without giving Josh time to give any sort of response at all, Donna turned quickly and with her hand encompassed in Sam's, exited the bar, leaving Josh behind.

---------------

"DONNA!!!" Josh bellowed.

Appearing silently in his doorway she replied, "Did you know that there is this odd little contraption buried underneath the stuff on your desk that most people like to call an intercom. And with said device you could call me at my desk without straining your larynx."

"Interesting concept, I'll have to try it sometime."

"Hmm. Is there a reason you brought me into your third-most almighty presence?"

"Yeah, where's that file for the thing that Sam and I are working on that I asked for?"

Without reply, Donna turned on her heel and began to saunter out of his office.

"Donna!" Josh exclaimed.

Turning to look at him over her shoulder, she crooked one finger indicating for him to follow her. Altogether, Josh found the pose exceedingly sexy and tailed her back to her desk. She sat in her chair and returned to typing on her computer, indicating with a nod the file he had requested. Picking up the folder, Josh leaned against Donna's desk and began to flip through it.

"You know, you should really consider changing your name to Frodo. Frodo Lyman has a great ring to it," Donna commented without breaking from her typing.

"And how did you come to this conclusion? This isn't some elaborate way of attempting to convince me to buy you a DVD player is it?"

"Nope, I have one now. No, this decision branches from the fact that you and Sam are the best of friends. He's your loyal sidekick, always there when you need him. You two are just like Sam and Frodo."

"Ah, but you forget, we fight crime, something Sam and Frodo never did. So really, we're far more like Batman and Robin."

"Hmm, I suppose that would make me Alfred. Nah, I really don't dig being the old guy so we'll leave our fictitious analogies for your friendship with Sam alone."

"'Kay."

Josh finished reading the file and was about to leave and head back to his office when he noticed an unfamiliar glint coming from Donna's left hand. Looking closer he discovered what looked like an engagement ring encircling the most important finger on that particular hand. Racking his brain as to who on earth would give Donna an engagement ring, Josh could come up with only one possible option: Sam. Recalling the latest gossip he had heard that morning and the glint he had seen in Sam's eyes the night before that he had obviously mislabeled, Josh decided to be suave and attempt to find out the information he wanted inconspicuously.

"So, Sam gave you a ride home last night. Why did you need one?"

"I told you last week, my car's in the shop again. I was going to take the metro but Sam refused to let me go on it alone last night so he drove me home."

"Hmm, I heard you two came in together this morning."

"Did you now? Well, at least some information in the rumor mill is correct."

Unable to contain himself Josh blurted out, "Did you sleep with him?!?"

Looking up at him with a rather demure expression Donna said, "He did sleep in my bed," there was a long pause, "but I took the couch."

Josh blinked, it took several minutes for the information to seep into his brain and when it did he asked, "Why is Sam staying at your place?"

"It was only for last night. He was so busy with you yesterday that he didn't have time to book a room and I completely forgot to do it for him, so I let him stay with me. Tonight he'll be safely tucked into a hotel room bed. Does that make you feel less threatened?"

Josh narrowed his eyes at Donna's jibe but inwardly felt relieved. That particular feeling didn't last long when he remembered that although his best friends weren't sleeping together or planning on getting married, there was still the issue of the engagement ring on that all important finger. As attempting to be inconspicuous had been unsuccessful, Josh decided to do what he did best: play dumb.

"Donna, what's that on your finger?"

"I would think even you could recognize an engagement ring, Joshua."

"Why," Josh's voice squeaked so he cleared his throat and tried again, "why are you wearing an engagement ring, Donnatella?"

"Because the chain broke."

"What?"

Sighing, Donna turned away from her computer to face him, "This was my great-grandmother's engagement ring. She's the one in my family that I got my looks from. My great-grandfather had this ring made especially for her. You see that sapphire in the middle, he said it reminded him of her eyes and all those small diamonds in a circle around it was to symbolize their never ending love for each other. When my great-grandmother died, she left me her ring. I usually where it on a chain around my neck but the chain broke this morning so I had to wear it on my hand."

"But why are you wearing it on THAT finger, on THAT hand?" Josh said, holding up Donna's left hand and pointing at her ring finger.

"Well, you remember how my nephews came to visit last week? We played basketball on the weekend and I jammed the ring finger on my right hand. It's still a little swollen and the ring will only fit on my ring fingers so I put it on that one. Have I now satisfactorily explained why I'm wearing an engagement ring Joshua?"

"Mm-hmm," Josh murmured thoughtfully. Standing up suddenly he said, "Donna tell Sam I'll meet him later. I suddenly remembered something I have to do at lunch today."

"Ok," Donna said to thin air, as Josh had sped out of the building before she could reply.

---------------

It was several hours later when Josh exited his office and sidled up to Donna's desk.

"Donna, can you come with me for a sec?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Josh didn't reply and instead made a grand gesture indicating for her to go into his office ahead of him. Once Donna had settled in the visitor's chair, Josh closed the door and then planted himself in his chair behind the desk.

"Josh," Donna said with concern, "what's going on? Is everything ok?"

"Yes Donna, everything's fine. I just have something I want to give to you without everyone else watching."

"Ok."

With a grand flourish, Josh reached into his backpack and withdrew a long black velvet jewelry box that he placed on his desk in front of Donna with a great deal of pomp and circumstance.

"Josh..."

"Open it Donnatella."

Donna cracked open the box to reveal a simple silver chain. For a moment she looked puzzled and then understanding crossed her face. Looking up at Josh with watery eyes, she seemed unable to speak, her lips forming a soundless oh. Seeing that his assistant was dumbstruck, Josh jumped out from behind his desk. Lifting up Donna's left hand, he slowly slid the ring off her finger. Removing the chain from the box, he slid the ring onto it. Moving behind her, he put the chain around her neck and fastened the clasp at the back of her neck. Donna's hand came up to cover the ring and she craned her head to look at Josh, the same sad and wistful look from the night before appearing on her face. Suddenly, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Briefly taken by surprise, Josh stood immobile and then wrapped his arms around her waist. He heard Donna whisper a thank you in his ear and he tightened his hold on her in response. Placing a heartfelt peck on his cheek she released him and Josh was forced to reluctantly let her go. Giving him another wistful smile over her shoulder, Donna then opened the door and walked back out to her desk.

Josh leaned against the doorframe, studying his assistant for several minutes. Then with a sigh he returned to his desk and opened the file he was supposed to read in preparation for his next meeting with Sam. However, after only thirty seconds of gazing at the file, Josh was seized by the urge to once again look at the other purchase he had made at the jewelry store.

Careful to conceal the small square box from Donna's view, Josh opened it to gaze down upon the diamond encircled by small sapphires, an inverse of the ring that Donna wore around her neck. Josh stared into space, daydreaming about that time in the future when he would present the ring to a particular blue-eyed, blonde-haired assistant that sat just twenty feet from him.

The thought caused Josh to give a wistful smile of his own.

FINIS


End file.
